Find Health and Medical expertise in Sri Lanka

Health and medical services in Sri Lanka are provided by both the public and private sector. The provision of public health service in Sri Lanka takes place at the central, provincial, district and divisional levels. Most people live within 5 km of a health facility. There is a large network of government-funded hospitals throughout the island. Private sector health services also play an important role, with a relatively low-cost private health care sector. There are some pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in the country, although the vast majority of pharmaceutical requirements are imported.

In recent years the government of Sri Lanka has taken significant steps towards improving government-funded health care in the country. Sri Lanka has an extensive network of public health units and hospitals spread across the island, and the majority of hospitals are well staffed and equipped to meet the general health demands of the community. Public health services are provided free of charge to citizens of Sri Lanka. However, in 2013 the World Health Organization reported that there is still a need for reform of the primary health care model. It was suggested that, while hospitals in general are well equipped in terms of staff and equipment, the importance of public health needs revitalising. The health system of the northern and eastern provinces was severely affected by years of conflict in the country and is in dire need of attention.

Communicable and non-communicable diseases

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Sri Lanka accounted for an estimated 75% of all mortality in 2008. The most prevalent NCDs in Sri Lanka are cardiovascular diseases, which accounted for 40% of total deaths across all age groups in 2012. Cancer, non-communicable variants of respiratory diseases and diabetes contributed 10%, 8% and 7% to total mortality, respectively (2012). Communicable diseases along with maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions accounted for an estimated 11% of all mortality in Sri Lanka in 2012. The prevalence of HIV in Sri Lanka, as a percentage of people aged 15–49 years, was less than 0.1% in 2012. In 2012 there were 23 reported cases of malaria in the country, a significant decline from 684 reported cases in the year 2010. There has been no reduction in the estimated incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in the period 1990–2013, during which time this has stood at 66 cases per 100,000 people; overall estimated mortality (when mortality data excludes cases comorbid with HIV) from the disease has remained consistent at 5.9 deaths per 100,000 in the period 2007–13.

In the most recent survey, conducted between 1997 and 2010, there were 68 doctors, and 164 nurses and midwives per 100,000 people. Additionally, in 2013, 99% of births were attended by qualified health staff and in 2013, 99% of one-year-olds were immunised with a dose of measles. In 2014, 96% of people were using an improved drinking water source and 95% had access to adequate sanitation facilities. The most recent survey, conducted in the period 2000–11, reports that Sri Lanka had 4 pharmaceutical personnel per 100,000 people.

Only two-fifths of health care in Sri Lanka (40%) was government funded in 2012. The remaining 60% was paid for by patients or funded by other non-governmental entities, such as private insurers, charities or employers. Total health expenditure constituted 3.1% of GDP in 2012. Expenditure by the government amounts to US$35 per capita.

Sri Lanka was not an original signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, but acceded to it in 1980 and has written the covenant into law. It includes ‘the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health’. The covenant commits signees to providing healthy and hygienic environmental conditions, controlling epidemic diseases, improving child health and facilitating access to health services without discrimination.